Luscious Joys: Pizza Dough

The Newsy Neighbour Magazine

www.thenewsyneighbour.com

June Issue #116

Article Provided By: Kathryn Hartwell

Have you ever tried making your own pizza dough? In my mind, it is like making bread: it’s a disaster. I have tried making bread and buns in the past, but, for some reason it never seems to rise properly for me, or if it seems that it did rise (the first time), once I get it into the pan and bake, it does not rise properly the second time and I end up with a flat loaf of bread instead of the big beautiful golden loaf of warm delight. Now, I may have given up too soon, as after my second attempt at bread making I decided this just was not for me.

Then I found this recipe for making my own pizza dough and thought, I am not a quitter and I am going to give this a try. It is the same process as making bread, but in the article, it said “You’ll never settle for a take-out pie again, not when the alternatives are so delicious and easy” so I thought maybe I can do this!

With a little trepidation, I started. The directions sounded easy enough; they call this the “classic” recipe; it only takes 20 minutes, then you’re ready to top it.

Classic Pizza Dough

3 cups all purpose flour, divided

1 pkg. (1.4 oz.) rapid-rise yeast

1 tsp salt

1 cup warm water

2 tbsp oil

Combine 2 cups flour, yeast, and salt. Add water and oil; mix in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Cover; let rest on floured surface 10 minutes. Divide in half. Freeze one half for future use. This will make two 12” pizzas.

Much to my surprise, my dough actually looked puffy, smooth, glossy and luscious! Think of the possibilities! My imagination started to run wild. I started going through my cupboard and refrigerator, looking for toppings to make my very own exquisite creation. Just think about the hundred different combinations of toppings you could create! But then I thought what about the pizza sauce? In my mind, the dough is the foundation of any good pizza but the sauce is equally important (they never put enough) I want to be able to taste the herbs and spices of a slightly pungent and slightly sweet pizza sauce. Now that I had had such success making my first pizza dough, the next apparent step was to also make an incredibly luscious sauce.

I found this pizza sauce on allrecipes.com and to me it sounded like just what I was looking for even the name was appealing; it has lots of herbs and spices just the way I like it, and even anchovies (which I love):

Exquisite Pizza Sauce

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

6 fluid ounces’ warm water (110°F/45°C)

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)

3/4 teaspoon onion powder 

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

salt to taste

In a small bowl, combine tomato paste, water, Parmesan cheese, garlic, honey, anchovy paste, onion powder, oregano, marjoram, basil, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes and salt; mix together, breaking up any clumps of cheese. Sauce should sit for 30 minutes to blend flavours; spread over pizza dough and prepare pizza as desired.

Now that I had the perfect pizza dough and sauce, my mind moved on to toppings; this is truly where you can let your imagination run wild. The meat alone could de-rail you even before you consider all of the other combinations. But, that is the complete and utter joy of the freedom of creating you own special “signature” pizza. Just think about it. Why stop at pepperoni, ham, ground beef or bacon? What about capicola, prosciutto, chicken breast, corned beef, pancetta, chorizo, mortadella, salami, roast beef? I could go on and on; just take a visit to your local deli and try something you have never tasted before. Live a little!

Don’t even get me started on the cheese! I could probably fill two whole pages on different types of cheeses. You have come this far, I urge you to visit your local deli and try something new, you may surprise yourself. Experiment, expand your horizons, have a little fun! After all, isn’t life the journey not the destination?

Food is the one factor you at least have some control over. Just go for it!

Kathryn Hartwell